For the Greeks, retreat wasn’t a shameful thing. It was how you retreated that mattered. The most grievous sin was rhipsaspia—losing your shield in the chaos of escaping—because that endangered the whole phalanx, placing your comrades in peril. A Spartan could return from a battle lost, but they dared not ever abandon anyone. That’s what they meant when they said Return with your shield or on it. When things look lost, some just give up—terrible things come from this collapse of will. Disorder and apathy compound the problem, prevent things from being salvaged, even inflict collateral damage
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